Boiler feed-water regulator.



C. M. CLARK & G- H- GIBSON:

BOILER FEED WATER REGULATOR.

APPLICATION TILED JUNE 17, 1909.

Patented Oct. 10,1911;

2 SHEETS SHEET l.

wix'meoaea O. M. CLARK 5; G. H. GIBSON.

BOILER FEED WATER REGULATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNB17, 1909. 1,005, 1 56.

Patented Oct. 10, 1911.

2 SHBETSSHEET 2.

h wentoz 5 (R -ovum,

UNITE f C E'ABLES MO ILEY CLARK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AND GEDRGE H. GIEEUI I, fill? lj'lF-lEl-rlltt MON'I'CLAIR, NEW JERSEY; SAID GIBSON AbSIGNUR T0 SAID CLARK.

BOILER FEED-WATER Iti-EGULATQEL Specification of Letters Iatent' h'atcnteo their: ltd, feign Application filed June 17, 1909. Serial No. 502,654

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES MO'ILEY CLARK, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city Cook, and State of Illinois, and'GnoRcE H. GIBSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Upper Montclair, Essex county, and State of New Jersey, have invented an Improvement in Boiler Feed-Water Regulators, ofwhich the following is a specification.

()ur invention has reference to boiler feed water regulators and consists of certain improvements which are fully set forth in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof.

Heretofore, boiler feed water regulators have been employed in which a supply valve in the boiler feed pipe has been controlled by a thermostatic regulator in which the power to operate the valve has been produced by the expansion of the thermostatic member of the regulator, but great difliculty has been experienced, owing to the fact that the expansible member was required to be of considerable length to secure a sufficient amount of expansion for mechanically operating the valve and this great length which is necessary, has made the expansible' member (usually in the form of a tube) liable to buckle or bend. and which danger has necessitated very careful proportioning of the resistances to be overcome to insure perfect and continuous operation in the apparatus.

The object of our invention is to overcome the above steted difficulties in the operation of a thermostatic regulator for boiler feed purposes byehminatrngthe necessity of relying" upon the expansion 0f-thether1nostatic member for directly operating the valve 01' valve controlling means for mittin Water tobe fed tothe boiler, and

f to employ the contraction of the expansible member for this purpose whereby an ex ansible' member of small cross section may e employed without the necessity of special proportioning of the resistances to be overcome and with absolute assurance of continued operation in the most perfect manner. By thus employing the contraction of Chicago, county of pen I more quick .mone under boiler is below the normal and contract when the Water in the boiler is or above 1 the normal level, and connecting means tween the thermostatic member and the valve'device whereby the valve device is permitted to-close when the thermostatic member contracts and vice verso.

More specifically our invention consists a boiler, a feed water pipe and a valve do vice therein combined with a thermostatic device which is expanded. and court ct under varying conditions of water leve the boiler and connecting means 1 thermostatic device and the va r ing the valve closed when the t device is under contraction and releasin the valve whereby it may :lreely open when. the thermostatic device is under expansion Our invention also comprehends der construction, whiolgs' together will tures above specified will 'he 'h stood .by reference to the the t which: v

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic our improved feed water ap. t not of feeding water; grammatically illustrate mod F ed means for operating the check valve and gs. 6, one 7 are sectional elevations of ditlere; 1 types of check valves which may employed. in connection with our invention,

2 is the boiler, S is the feed water pipe iis the check valve therein and i is the feed Water pump. This feed water: pump pro vided with pump governor 6 of any suitable constrnction which isfopcrated to stop i: normally 1nosta"e o ii too

upon its seatand may be held closed against the greater pressure from the pump side of the valve by a weighted lever 8 which acts as a mechanical device to hold the valve closed. When this lever is free and exerting its power the pump governor is caused to come into action to sto the pump.

9 is a second weighted eviceand may be employed as a counterbalance to remove the action of the weighted lever 8 from the valve andthereby permit the valve to open by reason of the greater pump pressure overcoming the boiler pressure. i l hen this is done, the pressure in the pump governor falls and the pump is automatically started into operation.

The weighted device 9 is operated. by a thermostatic device by means of a bell crank 11 and a chain 10 which may be provided with an adjusting turn buckle for regulab ing its time of action in lifting or lowering the device 9. The thermostatic device is provided with an expansible tube member 12 having its end at diflerent levels and its top connected by pipe 14 with the boiler at the normal water level and its bottom connected by pipe 13 with the water space of the boiler much below the normal water level. lt will now be seen that, should the water level in, the boiler fall below the normal level, the water in the expansion tube 12 would drain out and the steam. would enter and cause the expansion tube to This action would lower the over-- pend. "balancing weight device 9 and remove the action of the weighted lever 8 from the check valve 4. The pump presssure of the water now forces up the check valve and lowers the said pump pressure with the result that the plum governor (3 puts the pump into action and forces the water through the checlr valve into the holler. l hen the water level in the ooiler reaches the noi'mal level, the lower end the pipe.

142 is sealed and then the steam in. the 8K" pansible member 12 condenses and radiation causes. said member to contract. The contraction of the expansible member 12 rocks 'the lever ll and lifts the weight 9 from the weighted lever 8, allowing it to oscillate under its own weight and apply pressure to close the check valve tightly upon its seat against the pressure of the pump. The

' mosses pump pressure then rises and the pump governor 1s operated to stop the operation of the pump. This condition is maintained until the water level in the boiler again gets below the normallevel.

Referring now to Fig. 2 the weighted lever 8 is made to operate upon the valve by a link connection with a cross head 1.6 havin the stem 20 which normally closes the vs vs upon its seat. The lever 8 is operated by gravity to close the valve and is lifted by a weighted lever 19 when the valve is to be released. In this case, the overbalancing weight 9 is on a lever 17 which has a short arm acting upon the lever 8 to lift it and remove the pressure from the valve.

In the case of Fig. 3, the weighted lever 8 operates by a cam 18 upon the cross head 19 to force down a rod 20 which depresses the check valve upon its seat. The overbalancing weight 9 is secured to a. lever 21 and this is in turn linked at 22 with the weighted cam lever 8 and thereby puts it into or out of operation.

In the construction shown in Fig. 4- the l'Od 20 is operated by the short arm of a heavily weighted lever 23 through a link 22, the rod 20 being intended to operate upon the check valve as in the case of Fig. 1. The lever 23 is connected to the chain 10 through a heavy spring 24. In this case the contraction of the expansible member 12 lifts the chain and with it the lever 23 to close the valve. The spring 24 allows for any continued expansion of the tube 12 and oscillation of crank lever 11 after the check valve is closed. The stop 25 limits the movement of the lever 23. Any other means to compensate for the extra expansion over what is necessary to close the valve may be empgioyed in lieu of the spring 24, if so desirec.

The check valve 4 may be made of any suitable form, for example, as vshown in either of,Figs. 5, 6 or 7. In Fig. 5 an ordinary form of check valve isshown with the operating rod or plunger 20 disconnected from the valve piece which it operates. In Fig. :6 the valve is shown as double seated and balanced. In Fig. 7 the, valve is shown as double seated but only partly balanced. Any other form of valve suitable for the purpose may be employed.

The details of construction may be modi- 50 when the thermostatic member expansible member under tension and for removing the action of the mechanical means to from the valve when the expansible member expands, and vice versa.

2. In a boiler feed regulator, the combination of a boiler, a feed water pipe, an unbalanced valve in the feed water pipe to control the supply of water to the boiler, me-

chanical means for perinittin the valve to open to prevent the supply 0. water to the boiler, an expansible member which. is expanded and contracted under variations in the level of the water in the boiler consisting of a tube fixedly supported at one end and with its ends at different elevations and havin a pipe connecting the upper end 01' the tube with. the boiler at the normal water level and a pipe connecting the lower end of the expansible tube with the water 5 ace of the boiler below normal water love, and con necting means extending from the free end of the expansible tube for normally main- 3o taining it under tension and removing; the

action of the mechanical means from the valve when theexpansible member expands, and vice versa.

3. In a boiler feed regulator, a boiler, a

feed water pipe, a valve in the feed watu' pipe to control the supply of water to the odor, mechanical means for holding the valve closed to prevent the supply of water .to the boiler consisting of a weighted lever 40 to hold the valve shut, an ov'erbalancinp;

weighted device for operating the weighted lever to remove its action upon the valve and permit it to open, in combination with a thermostatic member which is expanded and contracted under variations in the level of the water in the boiler, and a connection between the ovcrbalancing weighted device and the thermostatic member whereby its action is removed from the weighted lever and vice versa.

l. In a thermostatic regulator, the combination of a boiler, a feed water pipe, a check valve in said feed water pipe, mechanical means for normallyholding the check valve to its seat, overbalancing means acting by gravity for removing the action of the mechanical power devices upon the valve to permit the valve to open to supply feed water to the boiler, a thermostatic member adapted to expand when the water is low in the boiler and contract when the water is at the normal level therein said member being held under tension, and connecting it means between the thermostatic member and contracts the overbalancing power devices whereby said power devices are thrown out of action when the thermostatic member is under ere pension and the over-balancing means puts the thermostatic member under tension.

In a thermostatic regulator, the combi nation of a boiler, a feed water pipe, a weighted lever means for holding the valve tight upon its seat, a weighted device for removing the pressure of the lever means from the valve to permit the valve to open, a thermostatic member which is connected with the boiler so as to expand when the water is below the normal level and to contract when the water is at or above the nor mal level, and connecting means between the thermostatic member and the weighted device whereby the action of the same 13 rcmoved from the lever means when the thermostatic member is under contraction. 6. In a thermostatic regulator, the combination of a boiler, a feed water pipe, a weighted lever means for holding the valve tight upon its seat, a weighted device for removing the pressure of the lever means from the valve to permit the valve to open, a thermostatic member which is coinielcted with the boiler so as to expand when the water is below the normal level and to contract when the water is or above the normal level, and connect; means between the thermostatic nicmbe and the weiirhted device consisting; of a lever operated by the thermostatic member and a flexible connection between the lever and the weighted device whereby the action of the sameis removed from the lever means when the thermostatic member is under contraction.

7. In a feed water regulator, the combination of a boiler, ai'eed water pipe therefor, a valve in said feed water pipe to control the supply of water to the boiler, and a thermostatic controlling means, power means for holding the valve closed upon its seat when the said thermostatic means is contracted, and devices for overpowering the power means for releasing the valve to per mit it to open when the said means ieexpandcd' as when the level of the water in the boiler is below the normal level, said devices permitting the contraction of the thermostatic means alter the valve is closed without disturbing it.

8. ln a feml'watcr reg, later, the combina tion of a boiler, a t ater pipe therefor, a valve to control the supply of water to the feed water pipe, a thermostatic means, power means for holding valve closed upon its seat when the said thermostatic means is contracted, devices for overpowering the power means for releasing the valve to permit it to open when saidthermostatic means is expanded as when the level of the water in the boiler is below the normal level said devices permitting the contraction oi Flt till

the thermostatic means after the valve is In testimony of which invention, We hereclosed without disturbing it, and means for unto set our hands.

supplying feed water to the feed Water pipe CHARLES MOTLEY CLARKu at a constantly acting greater pressure than GEORGE H. GIBSON.

that in the boiler and at a less pressure than Witnesses:

is capable of opening the valve when the ROBERT G. CLIFTON,

thermostatic means are under contraction. W. A'rwoon MEIIARG. 

